Hanger vending machine



1963 J. D. ROBBINS ETAL 3,110,415

HANGER VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 23, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JAMES 0. ROBE/N5 PAUL AOSC/l BYC/IARZES 14. 024mm A TIDE/U576 Nov. 12, 1963 Filed Feb. 23, 1961 J. D. ROBBINS ETAL HANGER VENDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JAMES D. ROBBINS ATTO/PA/EYS' N 1963 J. D. ROBBINS ETAL 3,110,415

HANGER VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet :s

INVENTORS JAMES 0. ROBE/A15 PAUL KOSCH BY CHARLES M 024F670 w ;W

Nov; 12, 1963 J. D. ROBBINS ETAL 3,

HANGER VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 23, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS JAMES 0. ROBB/A/3 p404 xoscu BY cwAAu's A/ UZAPS/(l United States Patent OT 3,110,415 HANGER. VENDEI IG MAQENE .s'arnes D. Robbins, Spring Lake, Paul Kosch, Grand Haven, and Charles W. Uzarski, Grand Rapids, Mich, assignors to Applied Arts (Iorporation, Grand Rapids, Mich a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 23, 1961, 521'. No. 91,239 12 Claims. (Cl. 221-77) This invention relates to vending machines and more particularly to a machine for vending clothes hangers.

The various uses of clothes hangers make it worthwhile to enable persons desiring such clothes hangers to be able to readily avail themselves thereof. The ever present problem with respect to hangers is their presence in places where they are not needed, and their complete absence where they are. A convenient inexpensive reliable source of these hangers in such places as dry cleaning establishments, laundromats, and motels would thus be very desirable.

t is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a convenient source of clothes hangers for dry cleaning establishments, laundromats, and the like. It is a further obiect to provide an apparatus for retaining hangers in an orderly fashion for intermittent dispensing thereof.

Further objects are to provide such an apparatus which may be readily refilled; may be operated by any layman; will be faithful in dispensing hangers due to the lack of any interference between hangers in the apparatus; will have practically no maintenance or upkeep expenses; will assume little space; will be lightweight; will be portable; and which will fill a definite need and demand found in todays societ Further objects will be apparent from a scrutiny of the following specification when studied with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of one embodiment of a hanger dispensing device;

PEG. 2 is a top sectional view of the hanger dispensing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

PEG. 3 is a side sectional apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a close-up partial sectional view of the lower portion of the dispenser depicted in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the hanger retaining members shown on the apparatus in FIG. 4;

HG. 6 is a perspective view of a slightly modified hanger retaining member;

FlG. 7 is a partial end view of the conveyor shown in FIG. 6;

P16. 8 is a perspective of a second embodiment of the hanger dispensing apparatus;

KG. 9 is a partial end view of the conveyor and guide mechanism of the device in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective of a modification of bodiment shown in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a partial cross sectional end view of the operating mechanism and guide of the device of F G. 10.

The hanger mechanism basically utilizes an endless conveyor onto which is hooked either the elongated portion of a clothes hanger or the hook portion of a hanger depending on the conveyor structure. The opposite end of the hanger is preferably guided by either a bar for the hook portion or oppositely facing channel members for the elongated portion depending upon which end of the hanger is attached to the conveyor. The conveyor and guide are arranged to hold the hangers in a roughly parallel and separated position with respect to each other. A suitable drive or crank mechanism is provided for moving the conveyor and causes hangers to be individually view of the hanger dispensing the em dropped therefrom at a predetermined location due to gravity or a combination of gravity and a knock-oil device. These dispensed hangers fall into a suitable position in the dispenser for removal by the person operating the machine.

Embodiment N0. 1

Referring now more particularly to PEG. 1, it is seen how the hanger dispensing apparatus 10 comprises a casing or support mechanism 12, an endless conveyor mechanism with hanger retaining means 14, and a guide mechanism l6.

Casing 12 may be any suitable support device to retain the guide mechanism and the conveyor mechanism. Preferably this casing is enclosed to facilitate adaptation of t .e device to coin actuated operation for various business establishments. Thus, this casing 12 preferably includes a boxlike member 18 with a hingeddoor 29. The door 2%) includes an elongated slot 22 and a lower cut-out portion 24 for removal of a hanger which has been dropped to the bottom of the container. Bottom 2:? of the container i3 is slanted towards slot 22 to cause a hanger to move adjacent the slot with the hook portion projecting from cut-out 24.

Endless conveyor mechanism 14 comprises a suitable endless belt or chain 28 with a path around sprockets 3t and 3-2. Another chain and identical sprockets are found on the opposite ends of supporting bars 34 and 36 in the other end of housing 18. The entire conveyor assemly is mounted on the casing back 38 (FIG. 2) by brackets 41 and 42. In FIG. 2 it is seen how the two chains 28 on both ends of the casing or support are uniformly mounted. This conveyor mechanism may be driven by power means adapted in a conventional manner or by a ianual crank .4 as shown in PEG. 1. This crank has a handle on the outside of the casing (not shown) whereby upon rotation of the handle a suitable ratchet mechanism as or the like rotates sprocket 32 and thus moves conveyor 2%. Suitable stop mechanisms (not shown) may be utilized to limit the angular movement of the handle and crank and thus limit the conveyor movement to a set distance. Guide bar assembly 16 is composed of a bar 48 or the like of a diameter to fit the hook portion Ell of a clothes hanger 52, and a mounting flange 54, or other similar mounting means, which is fixedly attached to casing 18.

Typical hanger 52 is supported upon the conveyor mechanism by a series of elongated troughs or hooks as shown more specifically at 54 in FIG. 2. Of course this hook ma 1 be composed of a series of small spaced hooks as long as sufficient longitudinal support is supplied to the elongated portion 56 of hanger 52.

Referring now to FIG. 3 it is seen how the guide member 48 is spaced laterally from the conveyor mechanism 14 to maintain hanger 52 and its counterpart hangers in an orderly array. Also seen in more detail is the crank 4.4 with its ratchet tooth 46 for moving the conveyor in a step-by-step fashion. The book members 54 are mounted in a series upon the conveyor chain 28 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. These hooks, shown more specifically in their mounted position in FIG. 4, move as indicated by the arrows. Hangers 52 are stacked upon these hooks 54 and slant in a slightly downward position between the conveyor mechanism and the guide bar 48 when the dispenser is placed in a vertical position as shown. This prevents the hangers from binding upon the guide 48 and also provides an orderly arrangement of the hangers to prevent intertangling amongst themselves. As the hooks move around sprocket 32, hangers 52. fall to the bottom of the container as shown in H6. 4 and explained more fully hereinafter. Although the dispenser is described as 3 vertically positioned, it is to be understood that it could readily be placed in other positions.

In FIG. 5 is shown one of the hook devices 54 which are attached to the conveyor mechanism at spaced intervals around the periphery. This hook device is provided with end flanges 6% that possess orifices 62 for attachment to chain 28. The front portion of the hook is an elongated, retaining troughlike member 64 unto which the elongated portions of the hangers may be placed. Notches or cut-out portions 66 are provided to prevent the hanger from shifting laterally as well as to retain it. Notches 68 may be supplied for childrens hangers, if so desired. When this hook 54 is attached to the chain it is prevented from swiveling downwardly by stabilizer 7d seen in FIGS. 1 through 4. Thus, the hook members ride in a generally horizontal position until the end 72 of the stabilizer 74 is reached at which time the hooks swivel downwardly to facilitate release of the hangers 52 as the bottom part of the lower sprocket is neared.

In FIG. 6 is shown an alternative linkage and conveyor structure to the hook and chain mechanism disclosed in FlGS. 3 through 5. In the device shown in FIG. 6 and 7 the hook members 104 not only possess hanger retaining hooking portions 1% but also include orifices 103 for riding on teeth lit) of sprocket 112 and possess connecting loops 114 for attachment to an orifice 116 on the adjacent link. Thus, the hooking members actually combine to serve as an endless conveyor as well as hanger retention devices.

Embodiment N0. 2

In FIG. 8 is shown second embodiment of the invention wherein the hook portions of the hanger rather than the elongated portions are secured to and retained by the endless conveyor. The elongated portions are guided by facing channel guides or the like rather than the hook portion being guided by a bar as in the first embodiment. Thus, in "FIG. 8 the endless conveyor 71 with its individual hooks 72 is mounted near the center of the casing 74 to facilitate retention of hangers 76 by means of hanger hook portion 73. These hangers 76 are stacked onto the various adjacent hooks and move when sprockets 89 and 82 are rotated to move the belt 84 in the directions indicated by the arrows. The individual hangers when stacked are parallel to each other and slant toward the conveyor due to the close proximity of the channel guides to the conveyor. The hook members '72 are embedded Within the flexible belt 8 so that they do not swivel downwardly to release the hanger before traversing the lower end of sprocket 80. Belt 34 may be provided with formed teeth 86 to intermesh with the teeth on sprocket 8t) and 82. Sprocket 80 is driven by shaft 38 attached to a motor mechanism (not shown) or a suitable crank and handle 99. Stop devices or pins may be provided to limit the angular movement of this handle 9%. This allows the conveyor to be moved only a set distance for the dispensing of the desired number of hangers. Guide channels 92 are mounted to the casing 74 at a fixed distance apart slightly larger than the width of hanger 76. It is also spacially separated laterally from the endless conveyor mechanism in order to guide and hold the hangers in an orderly fashion when moved by the conveyor as seen in FIG. 9. These guides terminate in a platform or ledge 94 which preferably possesses a downwardly slanting frontal lobe 96 for restraining hangers 76 as the conveyor hooks pass, thus forcing them off the conveyor one at a time as they near sprocket 80. Support for sprockets 8i and 82 is provided by shafts 88 and 98 mounted to the side Wall of casing 74. The individually dispensed hangers fall to the bottom 1% of the casing 74, which bottom is preferably slanted toward slot 102 so that hangers 76 Will slide to the slot with the hook portion 78 protruding from the casing.

In FIG. 10 is shown a modification of the dispensing apparatus shown in FIG. 8. This modification is much simpler and is very dependable due to features now to be described. The endless conveyor mechanism includes an ordinary V-belt 120' with simple pins or hooks 122 embeded therein. These pins each include an upwardly bent portion 123 which is at an angle greater than with respect to the rest of the pin. This obtuse angle facilitates removal of hangers as will be explained hereinalter. Belt 120 is arranged around sprockets 124 and 326, which sprockets are mounted on shafts attached to panel 128. This panel may be mounted in a suitable casing 13% with flanges 132. Referring to FIG. 11 it is seen how the V portion 121 of V-belt 12% revolves about pulley 124.

Also mounted upon support 128 are a pair of oppositely facing guide members 134. These guide members preferably include a roughly V-shaped slot 136 into which the respective ends of the elongated portion or" hanger 138 fit. This V-channel may be formed by attaching flange 14a) to the U-shaped channel member 134. The V-shaped slot 136 is laterally spaced from pins 122 so that the hanger is held in a somewhat horizontal or diagonal position to prevent intertangling of the adjacent hangers in the stack. Of course if the entire dispenser is placed in a non-vertical position the hangers will not be horizontal. Another feature of this embodiment is the movement of pulley 124 and thus pins 122 with respect to support panel 128. More specifically, pulley 124 is so located that the radius of curvature followed by pins 122 around pulley 124' directly intersects panel 123 as at 142. The recession of the pins or hooks into panel 128 literally pushes the hangers off the pins. This push-off feature or disappearing hook feature insures dependable dispensing of the individual hangers at the appropriate time even if pulley 124 is moved only a small angular distance.

Operation In operation, the hanger dispensing apparatus of Embodiment N0. 1 as disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 5 is loaded with a plurality of hangers by opening door 2% and placing the elongated portions of individual hangers upon conveyor hooks 54 with the hook portion of the hanger being slid down over guide bar 43. Then the housing is closed. When a hanger is desired, a handle on the outside of casing 18 is moved angularly to rotate crank 44 and thus ratchet pin 46. This pin rotates sprocket 32 a set distance and thus moves chains 28 and sprocket 30. The actual distance moved depends upon the setting of ratchet 46 or upon stops provided on the housing for the handle mechanism. As the sprockets rotate a set .distance and the chain moves in the direction indicated by the arrows, one of the hooks 5'4 will move below the lower edge of stabilizer 70 and will swivel downwardly as shown in FIG. 4. As each of these swiveled hooks reaches the region of the lower sprocket, it swivels far enough to allow the hanger to fall by gravity to the bottom 26 of the casing, where it slides to the front thereof. The hook portion of the hanger projects from the casing through slot portion 24 of elongated opening 22 to facilitate removal of the hanger from the casing.

The essential operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is similar in that handle 90. is rotated a set distance to shift shaft 88 and sprockets 80 and 82 for discharge of hanger 7-6. Rotation of these sprockets causes movement of belts 84 in the direction indicated by the arrow. The lower most hanger contacts ledge 94 as its hook tilts in passing around pulley 8% Thus the hanger is released from the hook and lifted simultaneously. Due to the slant 96 on the frontal portion of the ledge 94 the hanger slides off the ledge and falls to the slanted bottom of the cabinet 74 where it protrudes from the cabinet for easy removal. Because the hangers are held parallel, no interference is experienced between the dispensed hanger and the others. The essential difference in this embodiment is that the unit is loaded with the hanger hook portions, being retm'ned upon the small retention means 72 of the conveyor rather than the elongated portion of the hanger being mounted on the conveyor.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. and 11 is very similar to that of the device shown in FIG. 8 in that die hook portion of the hangers are attached to the bent pins or hooks 122 with the V-shaped ends of the elongated portions or" the hanger being placed in the roughly l-shaped channels 136. As the sprockets revolve due to the actuation of a crank or similar device the hooks 122 pass through the recess in panel 128 as at 142 to force the hanger hook portion from the retaining pins 122 thereby causing them to drop from the lower portion of. guide 134 to the bottom of the container where they slide to the front for removal.

The driving mechanism of the sprockets may be either manual or power operated in a manner to cause fractional angular rotation of the sprocket members to dispense the desired number of hangers upon each movement thereof. This drive mechanism may be operated on a typical coin actuation principle if desired. The coin may be utilized to operate a switch of a low speed motor to cause a fractional turn of the sprocket with gearing or the like. A conventional camrning arrangement on a low speed motor utilized in combination with cam actuated start and stop switches will serve this purpose.

Thus, it is seen how there is provided a novel type of hanger dispensing apparatus for conveniently and inexpensively supplying a predetermined number of hangers at a desired time. This apparatus is simple in operation, inexpensive in construction, portable in nature, and adaptable to conventional coin mechanisms to fill a very definite need and demand in dry cleaning establishments and laundromats.

Various modifications may be made of the device described without departing from the spirit of the invention. These modifications are fully intended to be protected, the invention being limited only by the structures defined in the attached claims and the equivalent structures thereto.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for dispensing clothes hangers having several portions including a hook comprising the combination of a support; an endless conveyor mounted upon said support; retaining means for holding portions of said hangers mounted on said conveyor; elongated guide means for other portions of said hangers and mounted on said support at a spaced distance from said retaining means and extending the hanger conveying length of the conveyor to hold the hangers across the space between said guide means and said conveyor retaining means to hold said hangers in a separated generally parallel orerly array with respect to each other; said guide means hElVlfi? a cross-sectional configuration to interiit with said other portions of the hanger to restrain said other portions into a proper relationship with respect to said retaining means and with respect to the other hangers; and means for moving said conveyor a predetermined distance to discharge a predetermined number of hangers.

2. A clothes hanger dispensing apparatus for hangers having several portions including a hook comprising the combination of a support member; an endless conveyor mounted on said support member; a plurality of clothes hanger retaining means mounted on the periphery of said conveyor; said retaining means being generally hookshaped to receive and retain a portion of said hangers or conveying the same; guide means mounted on said support and spaced from said endless conveyor and eX- tending the hanger conveying length of said conveyor to guide other portions of said hangers in a separated orderly array during movement of said hangers; said guide means having a cross-sectional configuration to interfit with said other portions of the hanger to restrain said other portions into a proper relationship with respect to said retaining means and with respect to the other hangers; and means for moving said conveyor a predetermined distance to discharge a predetermined number of hangers.

3. A hanger dispensing apparatus for hangers having several portions including a hook and a lower cross piece comprising the combination of a support; an endless conveyor on said support; said end-less conveyor including at least two spaced belt-type members; a plurality of hanger retaining hook members operatively associated with said belts and extending over at least a portion of the distance between said belts and adapted to receive the cross piece of a plurality of hangers; a guide bar adapted to accommodate the hook portion of clothes hangers, and being spaced from said conveyor mechanism to hold the plurality of hangers in a spaced orderly array; said guide bar extending the hanger conveying length of the conveyor and having a cross-sectional configuration to interfit with the hook portion of the clothes hangers to maintain the hangers in a proper relationship with respect to said endless conveyor and with respect to each other; and means for moving said con veyor a predetermined distance for dispensing a clothes hanger.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said hook means possesses cutout portions adapted to receive and retain the ends of said cross member and prevent lateral shif ing or" a hanger.

5. A clothes hanger dispensing apparatus for hangers having several portions including a hook portion and a base portion comprising the combination of a support; an endless conveyor of hingedly attached elongated members; retention hook means covering at least one portion of each of said elongated members and adapted to support and convey the base portion of each hanger; guide means spaced from said retention hook means, having a cross-sectional configuration to interfit with the hook portions and retain and guide the hook portions of the hangers in an orderly array with respect to said retention hook means and with respect to each other; said guide means extending the hanger conveying length of the conveyor; and means for moving said conveyor a predetermined distance with said guide means being adapted to allow simultaneous and an equal amount of movement of said hook portions with said base portions to enable orderly dispensing thereof.

6. The apparatus in claim 5 wherein said guide means spaced from said hook means is a vertical pole adapted to be received in the hooks of the plurality of hangers in the dispensing apparatus for holding clothes hangers in an orderly array during their movement with the conveyor.

7. A hanger dispensing apparatus for hangers having at least a hook portion and diagonal leg portions terminating in respective ends comprising the combination of a support; two endless belt-type members spacially and movably mounted on said support; a plurality of retaining hook means attached to said members and adapted to support at least the ends of said diagonal leg portions; elongated guide means for the hook portions of said hangers, spaced from said belt-type members and extending the hanger conveying length of said belt-type members, and capable by the structure thereof to guide the hook portions with movement of the hangers on said belt-type members; and means for moving said belt-type members upon said support to discharge a hanger.

8. In a hanger dispensing apparatus for hangers including a hook portion and diagonal legs having end portions the combination comprising a support; an endless conveyor; retaining means at spaced intervals on said conveyor adapted to support and retain hooks of the hangers in a spaced orderly array; a pair of oppositely facing channel guides adjacent said conveyor spaced from said conveyor in a parallel relationship thereto, and having a cross-sectional configuration to fit the ends of the base section of the hangers to guide the movement of the end portions of an elongated hanger during movement of the conveyor; and means for moving said conveyor a predetermined distance to discharge a predetermined number of hangers retained by said retaining means.

9. A clothes hanger dispensing apparatus comprising the combination of a support; an endless conveyor mounted on said support; clothes hanger retaining means mounted at intervals on said conveyor; a pair of oppositely facing channel guides spacially removed from said conveyor for guiding the end portions of an elongated hanger during movement of a clothes hanger with said conveyor; means for moving said conveyor; said conveyor being so mounted with respect to said support that said retaining means recedes into the support at 'one location thereof to release any clothes hangers retained thereon.

10. A hanger dispensing machine for hangers having a hook portion and a base portion comprising: a housing; a hanger discharge opening in said housing; elongated hook guiding and spacing means in said housing having a cross-sectional configuration to interfit with the hook of hangers to guide the hooks of a plurality of hangers in an orderly fashion; a base guiding and spacing means in said housing spaced from said hook guiding and spacing means in a generally parallel relationship thereto,

and having a cross-sectional configuration to interfit with the bases of hangers to guide/the bases of a plurality of hangers in an orderly fashion; said hook guiding and spacing means extending the length of said base guiding and spacing means and being generally uniformly spaced therefrom over the length thereof to cooperate therewith to hold a plurality of hangers in a spaced array therebetween; and conveyor means adapted to move one of said guiding and spacing means toward said discharge opening to move one portion of each of said hangers toward said discharge opening, and the other of said guiding and spacing means being adapted to allow the other portion of each of said hangers to move in an orderly fashion toward said discharge opening during movement of said conveyor means.

11. The dispenser in claim 10 wherein'said conveyor means is adapted to move at least a portion of said hook guiding and spacing means and wherein said base guiding and spacing means includes facing channel elements.

12. The dispenser in claim 10 wherein said conveyor means is adapted to move at least a portion of said base guiding and spacing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING CLOTHES HANGERS HAVING SEVERAL PORTIONS INCLUDING A HOOK COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF A SUPPORT; AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR MOUNTED UPON SAID SUPPORT; RETAINING MEANS FOR HOLDING PORTIONS OF SAID HANGERS MOUNTED ON SAID CONVEYOR; ELONGATED GUIDE MEANS FOR OTHER PORTIONS OF SAID HANGERS AND MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT AT A SPACED DISTANCE FROM SAID RETAINING MEANS AND EXTENDING THE HANGER CONVEYING LENGTH OF THE CONVEYOR TO HOLD THE HANGERS ACROSS THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID GUIDE MEANS AND SAID CONVEYOR RETAINING MEANS TO HOLD SAID HANGERS IN A SEPARATED GENERALLY PARALLEL ORDERLY ARRAY WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER; SAID GUIDE MEANS HAVING A CROSS-SECTIONAL CONFIGURATION TO INTERFIT WITH SAID OTHER PORTIONS OF THE HANGER TO RESTRAIN SAID OTHER PORTIONS INTO A PROPER RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO SAID RETAINING MEANS AND WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER HANGERS; AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID CONVEYOR A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE TO DISCHARGE A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF HANGERS. 